How to prioritise many urgent / important issues?

August 16, 2009 5:38 PM

Help me prioritise my career / accomodation / other goals - they all appear to be short term! [ideally UK MeFi people]. Anon because contains detailed career / personal issues.

I have recently started a new job (senior but low-ranking librarian) in a London (UK) university.

This is a big improvement over last year, when (to cut it short) I suffered from a stress-related problem while studying a Masters degree. In short a lot of things hit me at once, study, work, family problems, relationship breakdown...!

I'm now feeling much better and coping with life. Despite this, six months into the job I feel in a rut, as I live in lodgings in an expensive town and can't find a good priced longer-term place to stay. Going back to my family is not an option (it was a large cause of stress last year) and I can't stay with friends.

If I could get a higher salaried job, that would be great, but I doubt it would be at my current institution. Plus, given the effects that stress had on me last year, I am keen to avoid more upheavals and jobs that involve a lot of pressure.

I've started doing a further professional qualification but am now looking at postponing it so I don't get stressed out again! PLus I'm very doubtful library work will satisfy me long-term.

I'm highly educated (undergrad degree in Physics, Masters in library/information management, multilingual though not qualified in languages) but have been *very* unadventurous in my career so far, partly because I followed (what I now see as) bad advice and took "safe" scientific qualifications rather than languages which are my passion, and have lacked self-confidence.

Unfortunately I don't have any savings and I'm not earning much at all, just enough to live on, really. With my driving lessons I am making a yearly loss...!

I'd really like some help to see what would be a good area to prioritise more, or even really some suggestions to help me think outside the corner which I feel I've painted myself into!

posted by anonymous to work & money (3 comments total)

Wow, sounds to me like you've got it altogether. Like you've said, you're going to avoid any stress-producing situations. My advice would be to keep doing what you are doing and keep counting your blessings for how much your life has improved in a year's time. This will help you keep perspective on your job feeling like a rut. I'd find little things each day about your job that are good so that over time it won't seem so bad and you'll just become more grateful for it. I'd keep looking for housing opportunities, so that you can improve your money situation. Hopefully, something will come up and alleviate you of the financial constraints you are experiencing.
posted by VC Drake at 5:44 PM on August 16

I don't have to tell you that housing in London is very, very pricey. That being said, there are simple ways to reduce one's cost significantly if you are willing to trade off commute time.

Not sure where you live wrt your job, but even in Central London there are pockets of much lower priced housing. We live in Whitechapel, E1, closer to Stepney really. I bought the flat long before we got married simply because the area was cheap compared to other parts of London where I'd lived (corporate flats, St. Johns Wood and Camden Town). Council tax here only runs about £700 per year, so first thing I'd do is evaluate where you're currently living compared to other areas. Do a total cost analysis - many folks overlook Council Tax and then get a rather rude surprise later.

We're in Zone 2, but if you're willing to wander further afield, say out to Zone 5 or 6 on some of the tube lines you can markedly reduce housing costs. Of course this is an optimisation problem wrt Tube fare, but I suggest you start to look at the problem from this perspective.

Presently that seems to be your best option. And keep in mind that you shouldn't focus so much on salary as purchasing power; while the north / south divide in England is real and tangible and attracts much media attention, the simple fact of the matter is your money goes much, much further once you get out of the South East.

When I was in banking we were moving a bunch of jobs up to the Hull area, and a £100K salary in London would translate to about £60K up North, purely on a purchasing power basis. Start to think along these lines.

Not sure how far out your next qualification is, but if you've started it why not finish? Even if not directly applicable to your future goals, the simple fact that you're studying while working tells employers something about your drive. And don't discount the value of letters on your CV. I've got a string of qualifications and customise heavily depending upon what my CV is being targeted to. The only constant on my CV is two Masters degrees (MSc & MBA), and some ultra high end Sales training I took. Everything else (e.g., CIMA, Computer Science, Maths, etc) is simply not mentioned at all if not appropriate to the purpose my CV is being pitched for. So earning qualifications now will markedly increase career flexibility later.

In terms of the "safe" qualification keep in mind that Physics gives one a very, very solid quantitative and structured reasoning background which helps in a wide variety of fields. And since an MLS is a terminal degree you can easily offer up credible reasons to leave the field, should you wish. Its all about salesmanship, I'd suggest.

LiveMocha will help scratch the language itch, maintaining present abilities while helping you push into new directions should you choose. This will be important as one day you'll have the cash to gain formal qualifications which again will help you flesh out your CV.

From my perspective, it doesn't seem as though you've "painted yourself into a corner" so much as you're in a necessary holding pattern, earning money, letting time slip by while your future gradually coalesces about you.

If I can be of any further help don't be afraid to MeMail or even introduce yourself at a MeetUp. But please take a deep breath, review things along the perspective I've suggested and get on with it - I can see you're already kicking ass.

In any case, best of luck!
posted by Mutant at 1:36 AM on August 17 [1 favorite has favorites]

rather than languages which are my passion

What do you want to do with them? I have a technical day job, but to stay up to snuff, I do some freelance translation. You can start by picking jobs up off of craigslist or other local postings, and eventually build up references and repeat business. It may not be full-time, but it can get you a little extra money with something you like doing and can even squeeze in during lunch breaks and what-not.
posted by whatzit at 5:46 AM on August 19